My First Morning Light
by acaelousqueadcentrum
Summary: Part of Heart to Heart. One morning early in Gail's pregnancy.


Holly put the cup of warm tea on the bedside table and looked down at her sleeping wife. It was late, much later than Gail normally slept. Usually the blonde would already be up and dressed and complaining about one thing or another by this point in the morning. But today she'd overslept. Third time this week, in fact, that Gail had slept through their alarm.

This morning the police officer hadn't even stirred when the brunette reached over to switch off the beeping clock. Nor had she moved when Holly rolled out of bed to shower, or when she'd come back into their room to get dressed. Instead of listening to her wife grump about the house, looking for this or that, Holly'd had a relatively quiet morning, and even caught up on some articles she'd been meaning to read for the past couple of weeks.

It had been boring, and Holly had been lonely without her wife's adorable morning crankiness. And she felt a little bad, too. Pregnancy had been kind of kicking Gail's butt so far. She was exhausted all the time now; falling asleep before dinner, sneaking naps whenever and wherever she could. And the constant need to pee was her wife's new favorite thing to complain about.

But now Gail really needed to get up. She had just enough time to shower, throw on some clothes, and grab something to eat if she wanted to make it to Parade on time. And as much as Holly wanted to let her wife sleep, wanted to let her spend the day napping in bed, she knew she had to wake the blonde. Holly sat down on the edge of the bed, and felt her heart warm at the way Gail instinctively curled toward her.

"Oh, baby," she said quietly, brushing away the hair that had fallen over her wife's face before tucking it behind the ear she'd tickled and nibbled and kissed a thousand times over. Gone was the platinum blonde her wife had had when they first met, gone was the pixie cut that marked the first beautiful, difficult year of their relationship. Gail's hair was its natural ginger blonde now, and fell to just an inch or two above her shoulders. Holly loved the way it curled gently, the way it fell in waves around her wife's face. She loved to run her fingers through it, to tangle them in the silky strands when they made love, to tug when they fucked. She loved the way it spilled over the pillows, she even loved the way she sometimes woke up with it tickling at her nose, or found hairs caught in her mouth.

She loved everything about this woman, everything. And now that the love of her life was carrying their child? It was beyond words. Beyond language. Every day she woke up amazed at what her life had become, how beautiful it was. She'd never thought she could feel this way about someone, and then she'd met Gail.

Gail had turned everything she thought about life and love completely upside down.

And she loved the view from this side.

God, did she ever love the view.

Sparing a glance at the clock, Holly sighed, and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her wife's temple, and then her lips. Gail crinkled her nose and groaned, rolling over onto her back as she blinked against the light coming in from the window.

"Morning, Officer," Holly said with a soft smile, bringing her hand up to her wife's cheek. She was pleased when Gail turned her face into it, when the blonde nuzzled her palm.

"Morning," Gail replied back, sleep still coloring her voice, and moved to sit up against the headboard, "what time is it?"

Holly handed her the cup of tea, and chose to ignore the way her wife scoffed at it. She did let a small smirk escape when Gail drank it in big, quick gulps, as if she couldn't bear to have the taste on her tongue any longer than necessary. The tea was a compromise. Their doctor had recommended Gail cut out caffeine completely, something that the police officer had put up a fuss about. Coffee, Gail'd argued, was necessary to doing her job without killing anyone. She'd give up the alcohol, she'd stop dyeing her hair, she'd even take the damn folic acid pills. But she needed caffeine. She'd almost begged for it.

The alternative they'd agreed upon was tea, herbal tea; this morning was peppermint. Of course, Gail could have one cup of regular coffee per day, but she usually saved that for lunch to help stave off the need for an afternoon nap.

"Late, but not too late," she answered Gail's question. "You've got time for a shower and breakfast if you get up now."

The look on the blonde's face was both pitiable and adorable.

"You know, Lunchbox, risking being late for work was a lot more fun before I was pregnant, when the reason for rushing was sexy shower times, or skipping breakfast for sex on the kitchen table. Not because I've got your spawn literally sucking the life out of me."

"Oh, honey, I know," Holly replied sympathetically as she took back the mug, "but now you've got to get your cute butt into the shower. Because I'm leaving in forty-five minutes and your car is still in the shop. Hop to."

She swallowed Gail's groan with a kiss, and then sauntered off, pleased to hear the sound of her wife's feet hitting the floor in the bedroom behind her.

* * *

><p>Holly pulled into the precinct parking lot and waited for Gail to come out. Hopefully, her wife's car would be fixed by tomorrow, but truthfully, Holly liked picking the officer up every night after work. It meant that Gail would try her hardest to get done by the time she was done with work. It meant that she could assure herself that the blonde got home safe every night, that she wasn't struggling to stay awake as she navigated the downtown traffic home to their house.<p>

It just made her feel better, that's what it really came down to.

There she was, her wife. She looked tired, yes, but also pleased. Like she'd had a good day. She must have showered before coming out, because her hair was pulled back into a wet, loose ponytail. Holly took a moment just to watch her wife, to look at her. To lust after the swing of Gail's hips as she walked, the way the half-zipped leather jacket framed the blonde's perfect breasts.

"Hey," Gail said as she pulled open the door to Holly's Prius and flopped into the passenger seat, "can we go? I'm starving."

Holly laughed, "Sure thing, wife, any requests?"

"Pizza. Cheese. Thickest crust you can find," the blonde responded with a lazy smile and grabbed for her wife's free hand.

"Your wish is my command," Holly said and put the car in reverse.

They were waiting to turn onto the street when Holly asked how the officer's day had gone.

Gail sighed, "Well, Lunchbox, what do you want first, the good news or the bad?"

"Hmmmm," Holly pretended to consider her choices, "how about the bad and then the good?"

"Saving the best for last, Hol?"

"Always," the brunette answered.

"Okay, so bad news," Gail said with a bit of a grimace, "I think morning sickness kicked in this afternoon. Which isn't fair at all because it's called 'morning sickness,' not 'three-fifteen-in-the-afternoon sickness."

Holly squeezed her wife's hand, "Oh, baby, I'm sorry. But the books did say it would probably start anytime now."

"I know, but it's okay."

Finally a spot opened up, and Holly pulled out onto the road. "Oh, really, and why's that, Gail?"

"Because of the good news, Lunchbox," the blonde answered, using her free hand to fiddle with the radio.

"And, Officer Peck, what is the news that has you so cheerful even though you threw up this afternoon, and you hate to throw up?" She chanced a glance over at her wife, smiling at the look on Gail's face. Something had happened to put her wife in this good mood.

"Because I threw up all over Dov's shoes, that's why," Gail said with a proud smile.

Holly started laughing.

Yeah, that would do it.


End file.
